Wintermorph
by MagnaAngel
Summary: Once everything is settled down, Loki longs for excitement and instigates Ragnarok for fun. But it comes at a cost, one Loki is willing to gamble against, but Vara isn't. It falls to her to stop her lover, her husband and stop the end of days. But can she. Will she join him in his demented crusade, or will she stop him, and what will be the consequences of her choice? ONESHOT!
1. Chapter 1

It had been 20 years since Loki had his memory repaired by Odin. 20 years since he learned he had two children with the Fire Giant Queen, whom he had been courting before his memory was returned to him. They were now living permanently in Muspelheim, and Loki only returned to Asgard when called upon by Thor, or when he needed a momentary reprieve from the heat. Muspelheim herself had changed a lot in the 20 years as well. With the knowledge that all they needed was water, and with three ice casters living permanently on Muspelheim, they soon began to build up water reserves and collecting it in one of the deepest gorges on Muspelheim, creating a lake of fresh water. It was used for the people and when there was more than enough for them, the surplus was used to rebuild the realm, and soon, all of Muspelheim began to flourish.

But the creation of the lake came at a price. Part of the Kingdom was cut off from the Royal Court, the new name given to the city that had grown around the royal palace. They had no way of getting there, apart from Loki warping in and out. Pretty soon, that part of the kingdom began to fall into chaos and ruin, or so they thought. Loki and Vara went over and with some gentle persuading, convinced some women and children to come over to the Royal Court. They did, and Vara thought that she had got all her people out of there, but Loki knew better. A large group of men stayed behind, hiding in the shadows, hiding from the Fire Queen. Loki would use them at some point, so he promised to keep them fed and watered, taking care of them and one day, when he called, they would respond. Loki's thirst for war, and death, for Ragnarök was insatiable. He would keep this rag tag group of fighters from Vara and train them up, making them ready for the end of days.

Soon, Thor had almost completely stopped the rations, coming over only give them seeds that were in season on Asgard. And after trusting Vara for some time, returned her mother's sword to her.  
Isa was a 31 year old woman, and Master of Ice, a title created due to the fact that her and her older brother's chore was now to keep the realm supplied with ice to melt into water.  
Eldur's story was slightly more, complicated. Being the only dragon in existence, and at 33, he longed for a mate. But with none to be found in any of the realms, he chose to live as a humanoid draconian. The first of his kind. As Loki was a master of magic, he forged a magical pendent. A golden chain as thick as Loki's little finger, and set with a green gem he size of his palm. In the gem, he imbued his magic. The kind of magic Loki used to change form. Not his illusion magic, but actual shape shifting magic. When Eldur wore it, he transformed into a young man, who looked much like Loki, but he had some draconian features. Small blue scales in places and the red eyes of his Frost Giant heritage. But handsome none the less. He too was given the title of Master of Ice.

In the 20 years of there being water; Muspelheim now had forests, groves, lakes and streams. It looked much like Asgard, just hotter. Somehow, the air cleared as well, due to the trees no doubt, and the sky beyond the smog and ash was clear, bright and blue.  
Muspelheim thrived and was beautiful, but with not much to fight against, Loki sought to start another fight with his brother. The final one, the one that he knew would destroy the whole Yggdrasil. But he didn't care. He longed for Thor's blood and he would have it.

One day, while Vara was tending to the matters of the realm, she heard the Bifrost shoot down and thump to the ground. She looked up and wondered what Thor was doing here. Maybe he was here for a bonding session with Loki. Loki had gone off to the barracks to inspect the army, who was now no longer a rag tag formation or rabble, but an organised, lethal defence for the realm, or whatever Vara felt deemed their attention. But seeing as Thor trusted her, he didn't feel intimidated at all.

She heard Thor's heavy footsteps run into the palace and felt something was wrong. He never ran here. The energy exertion was too great for even him in this heat. She stood up and walked out the council room to meet him, only to be greeted by a bloodied and battered Thor, breathing hard and holding his hammer like he was in full fledged war mode.

"Thor?" Vara asked, rushing up to him and steadying him against the door frame.  
He breathed hard and looked up at her, and she could now see that his left eye was bloodshot, like he had punched in the side of the head, hard. It looked like his eye socket was shattered.

"I trusted you…" he breathed, looking up at her with betrayal in his eyes.

"What, what do you mean?" she frowned and was confused.

"FIRE GIANTS…" he shouted, but then doubled over forward, coughing up blood.  
This shocked her, in all the stories she read as a child, all the tales Loki told Isa and Eldur as children, Thor was unbeatable. But here he was, dying at her feet.

"Where?" she asked him as she steadied him yet again against the door frame.

"Asgard…" he breathed.  
"Ragnarök…" he added.  
She recoiled; she had not ordered such an attack. Asgard and Muspelheim had a truce, and she promised Ragnarök would never come as Thor had threatened to Loki first and foremost if it did.

"No Thor, I never ordered such an attack. My army is here, in the barracks. I would never…" she was breathless.  
"Loki is there right now, come, see for yourself." She offered to help him off to go see for himself but he pulled her back and held her close to him.

"Loki led your army, this very day, against Asgard." He whispered.  
"I saw him in the fray myself, cutting down my men, alongside your men." He added.  
This shocked her even more. She would have heard her army mobilising, she would have known. Then she had a bright idea. This would tell her the truth. She looked to her wedding ring and she sighed. Her gem was green, a sign that Loki was not in the realm.  
She looked up slowly, to meet Thor's blue gaze.

"No…Loki…he's not here." she whispered.  
Thor nodded and then shook his head.

"I warned you against him the last time I was here. I saw bloodlust in his eyes." he whispered, having caught his breath, but now was clutching his side.  
It seemed he had been stabbed as well. She wondered if one of Loki's infamous daggers was the weapon who had done the damage.

"I know, I saw it too, but he was good while he was here. Unless he was scheming behind my back again." she confessed.

"Where is your army?" Thor asked.  
And now she understood why he was here. He needed to fight fire with fire. Literally. If this group of fire giants were cutting down Asgardians to the point where Thor looked like this, then only her army could stand against them. She had to save Asgard, and the Yggdrasil.

"I can have them ready in half an hour." She told him, sitting him down on the floor.

"Do better. Asgard will fall in ten minutes." He wheezed.  
She nodded quickly and ran off to go alert her army. She ran into Astrid on her way out the palace.

"Vara, what's the rush?" she stopped her as she left the palace, heading out into the now, rose lined road leading to both the barracks and the magnificent Bifrost site.

"Ragnarök." Vara said simply.  
She then pointed inside.  
"Tend to Thor. Mend him as best you can. Have him ready to leave with me." Vara yelled, rushing out towards the barracks.  
She passed Eldur and Isa on the way, who was heading back from Crystal Lake having done their chore for the week.

"Mom…" Eldur asked, seeing her rush towards the barracks.

"Ask Astrid…" she yelled back to them.

When Vara reached her barracks, she found all her men, training, eating, and reading scrolls of the news of the realm. Doing the things they would normally do. She looked around and huffed. They were all here, not a single one was missing. The general stood up from his scroll and walked over to her.

"My queen, what troubles you?" he asked.  
Now that they had extra time to do things like read and learn about Asgard, they had become intelligent and well spoken.  
She huffed and looked up at him.

"Prepare the men. As quickly as you can. Asgard needs us." She said simply as more of the men began to look up at them.

"I can have then suited up and lined up at the Bifrost site in thirty minutes." Her general said.

"Do better." She said, stepping away from him and toward her men.  
They needed to know who they were up against.  
"Today, you may have to battle your brothers, fathers, and sons. Asgard is being invaded by Fire Giants. I ordered no such attack. It is up to us to clear our good name." she said, looking at the gathering crowd.  
"Everyone put a white sash on your left arm. So we don't end up killing our own." She ordered.  
She then turned to her general.

"Spread the word to the other barracks. North, east and south. We're going at this full force." She ordered and he nodded going to the Raven Master immediately.  
She then turned back to her men.

"I will lead you, as will Thor Odinson." She said, turning and walking out, whispering to her general as she passed that she would meet him at the Bifrost.

She rushed back to the palace as quickly as she could, her black dress flapping in the breeze as she ran full out. She arrived to see Astrid stitching Thor up in the council room doorway and Eldur in his human battle armour standing nearby, watching Astrid work.

"I'm coming with you." Eldur said vehemently as she walked towards him.

"Oh no, you're staying here." she said in passing to Eldur as she rushed to the weapons vault door.

"I'm not letting you go alone." He said, rushing past the deep gouges he had made in the stone floor, what felt like a life time ago.

"Your father is already there." Vara said, opening the door and heading down into the vault. Eldur followed her down the spiral staircase.

"You said nothing about him being there." Eldur said to her.  
How did she break it to him that she man he loved was evil again, and destroying the World's Tree? She couldn't. Loki would die a hero, in his children's eyes.

"He's been sneaking off to Asgard to have hunting sessions with Thor. Thinking I didn't notice the blood on his coat." She said, reaching the vault and walking down the hall to the cell of Laevateinn, right at the back of the hall lined with other weapons. She ripped the door open and rushed in. She picked up the sword from its unlocked chest. Since she had reconciled with Loki, she could once again, wield it.  
"He was there when they attacked." She said, turning on her heel and rushing back out. Eldur followed her out.

"Who attacked?" he asked her and she stopped and looked back at him.  
She took a breath and told him.

"Fire Giants. Thor thought it was my army, but everyone is here. There must have been some hiding in some other realm." She rationalised, leaving Loki's name out of it.  
"Don't worry. With our new training, my men will defeat them ten times over." She said, turning and walking back up the steps of the vault with Eldur at her heels.

"What can I do?" Eldur asked as they reached the throne room.

"Stay here. If Asgard falls, they might come for my throne next." She stopped again and turned, before walking closer to him as he locked the vault door up again.  
"If they come," she stopped and looked at him.  
He nodded. He knew there was only one way to defend the realm. In his dragon form.

"I know." He said and she smiled.  
It wasn't that once he was a dragon again, that he couldn't turn back, but that he didn't like being a dragon, now having tasted human life.

"Protect the realm. Keep your sister safe." Vara said softly her him and he nodded.

"I will." He whispered.  
She smiled and patted him on the shoulder. She then turned to see Thor waiting for her.

"We must away." he said to her, blood soaking his round silver discs on his armour.

"Give a minute to get my armour on." she said, walking past him.  
Isa, who was standing nearby, was shocked as to the speed this was all happening.  
"Isa, some help please." Vara said, walking past her and up the stairs to her suit.

"Yes mother." Isa said demurely, walking after her.  
They rushed into her room and Isa closed the door. Vara went to her chest and stared at it. She had not opened it since the day she came back from Asgard 31 years ago. When she was pregnant with Isa. She snapped out of it and ripped the lid open, pulling out her leather underclothes and silver armour. She stripped down quickly and slipped on the underclothes and with Isa's help, got into her armour.

"Mom." Isa said, as she was strapping her in.

"Isa?" Vara asked.

"It's dad. Isn't it?" she asked Vara.  
Vara looked down at the ground and nodded.

"He's begun to hate Odin more and more. For the 11 years he kept him from us, and we from him." she turned and looked Isa in her blue eyes.  
"He's brought about Ragnarök. And I have to stop him." she admitted to her child.  
"Do me a favour and don't tell your brother. You know how he dotes on your father." Vara said, running Isa's wavy hair through her fingers. She nodded.

"What if you can't stop him?" Isa asked.  
Vara sighed.

"Then Asgard will fall, and there after, no realm will be safe." Vara said sadly.  
"Listen to your brother, do your duty. Keep the people alive." Vara left her with these instructions.

Since Eldur was no longer a dragon, he was the heir to the throne. She nodded. And Vara smiled. They had both become strong, powerful casters, and were more than capable of looking after the realm. She was leaving it in capable hands. She hugged Isa quickly and then rushed out the room, down the steps and towards Thor. She had her staff in one hand and her sword in the other. She looked to her staff. Laevateinn had the same powers as her staff, and she couldn't wield both at the same time. She held out the staff to Eldur and he gingerly took it. They all knew what it meant. She trusted him with the realm, if she fell. The moment this thought flooded Isa's mind she ran up to her mother and hugged her tightly. Vara hugged her back and smiled as she took Eldur's free hand.

"I have no plans to die today." She said to them.

"None do." Thor said to her.  
She nodded, but she meant it. She had brought Muspelheim out into the light and she intended to see the entire realm blossom with water.

"I'll be back before you know it." Vara said, prying away Isa's arms and breaking the embrace.  
"Have dinner ready for me when I get back, Astrid. Perhaps some fish from the lake." Vara suggested and Astrid nodded.  
"See you tonight, my loves." Vara said, before walking off with Thor.

They walked out the palace and down the paved and rose lined path to the site. Off to the left, her army was gathered, weapons shining, and white sashes on their arms. The last men from the other barracks were just filling in at the back of the group. The other barracks weren't too far out, so they were there pretty soon, having caught a warm up jog no doubt.

"My men are all here. I will fight with you, but know that this attack is not my doing." She explained to Thor.

He nodded, seeing her army. These men were different. They were all in modern armour, made of metal, with swords his tallness in their hands. Bows strung around their shoulders and arrows to match. On their chest they carried the royal house insignia, a Royal Fire Lilly, another improvement.

"This is not the armour of the enemy we face." Thor said as they stepped into the half dome of the now improved Bifrost site.

"What?" she asked him as the army surrounded them.

"The rabble we face, wear leather. Not metal." He said as they packed in.

She frowned. They had this armour for ten years now. This supported her theory that the Fire Giants attacking Asgard were not of her realm.

"No matter. It just makes it all the faster to kill them." she said looking to Thor.  
"The Fire Giants that did this will be brought to my rule, Thor. I swear it." she said and he nodded just as the last army member entered the dome and Heimdallr, brought them back up to Asgard.


	2. Chapter 2

When they arrived, they were greeted by mayhem and madness off in the distance. Heimdallr pulled his blade from the generator and joined Vara and Thor at the Helm.

"Ragnarök has come." he said, to Vara and she nodded as she was too shocked to say anything. This could be nothing else but Ragnarök.

The main palace was burning, with black smoke was rising up from the pillars of gold. The village itself was burning, large and wild flames. If chaos is what Loki wanted, he was getting it.

"Odin's beard…" she said, repeating Thor's much used saying.  
"We're too late…" she whispered, looking to Thor.  
"Tell your men, that my men wear white sashes on their left arm. We'll help where we can, but…" she said, looking to Loki's palace on the cliff to her left.  
It too, was smoking. Her heart sank. She loved that palace.  
Just then, a loud explosion ran out from the top floor of the main palace.

"We fight. To the end." Thor said to her and she nodded.  
This madness had to be contained here. He swung his hammer above his head and flew off to go fight in the palace.

"Men to my left, get as many people, wounded, dead, alive, anyone you can, onto the bridge and here, to the observatory. When the city is clear, join the fight. This is our fight to end. Not the Asgardians. Men to my right, stop the rabble. Any way you can. Kill them if you must, but if they surrender, I will decide on quarter given." She said, looking over her shoulder. A unanimous nod from her men told her they were ready.  
"Loki is mine." She said, looking ahead of her.

Almost as if on cue, they all started jogging down the bridge. When they reached the end, her men branched off into their groups and went about their tasks. Vara had to find Loki. She had an idea of where he would be. Seeing as their summer home was burning, he could only be in one place, the pergola under which they were married, behind the Main palace.

She ran off, letting her men do what they were trained to do. She rounded the palace and as soon as the pergola came into sight, her heart stopped. There he was, under the climbing roses and white marble pergola, watching the battle from his high vantage point. Everything Thor had told her was true. Loki was leading Ragnarök. She stopped on the white pebble road and looked at him. Taking it in, she saw he was wielding his Chitauri staff, and was in his Asgardian battle armour. He had instigated this. He brought Ragnarök, all on his own. She walked up to him, slowly, hoping, wanting him to hear her steps as she crunched along the pebbles.

"Come to see your fall brother." Loki said without turning back, thinking she was Thor.  
His voice was filled with anger and bitterness, just like that day on Midgard when he left her there. She thought she might as well play to his ignorance of missing the details of the battle.

"Thor's dead." She said to him softly and his shock was evident, even with his back turned to her.  
He turned slowly to see her standing behind him, with Laevateinn in her grasp and her shoulders shaking slightly, at the realisation of what was to come. What she had to do.

"Vara… what… what are you doing here?" he asked, dropping his staff tip to the ground and walking towards her, but she backed away from him, her red cuts fluttering in anger.

"Why, Loki? Why would you do this?" she asked him, looking up at him from under her brow.  
She could see tears welling in his eyes, but none fell as he cracked his mischievous Loki smile.

"Destiny." He said, stretching out is arms as yet another explosion rocked the village below.  
"I was always destined to be Asgard's downfall. You know that. At one point, you prepared to stand at my side on this glorious day." he said, taking a single step forward, to which she didn't back away.

"But your insatiable desire for war will not stop here; you'll destroy all of the Yggdrasil. Our children included. Do you want that? Do you want to see Eldur, Isa, dead in the pile of bodies you seek to make?" she begged him, in no uncertain words to stop. He smiled yet again and nodded, seeing her reasoning.

"My children will survive, just as I will. You hopefully, will join us. Life without you will be terribly boring." He said to her, still smiling his maniacal smile.

"No Loki, Ragnarök's fury will consume all of the World's Tree. You risk not only Asgard's and Muspelheim's fate, but every person in the universe. Terror will reign and the dwarves, the ogres, and Odin knows what else, will rise to power. Do you want that? To see the world you love, I love, burn under the fire of a thousands ogre camp fires?" she asked him, trying to make him halt his assault, but it was too far gone. Asgard would fall. But she needed to contain it here, now.

"Loki, please, just call them off, or I will be forced to take drastic measures to stop you." She warned him one last time, just as the roar of her men fighting the other Fire Giants below echoed up to meet them.  
Loki arched his neck behind him to see what was happening, only to see his men being swept over by her men, like a tide of blood.

"But how, I trained them." he turned and peered over the cliff.

"Surely you didn't think Thor would give up so easily. He came to me, and I brought me army with me. My entire army. Your rabble is outmatched by skill in a one to one fight, but by my estimations, I have five to one, on your men." She explained to him that even if she had come with the same number of men as he had, he would still lose.

"Surrender to me, and maybe your punishment won't be as harsh." She asked him once more.  
He smiled, a tear now dropping from his eye. He would lose, was losing. All this had been in vain. And now he had alienated even his true love.

"I can't do that." He said, turning to her once more.  
"If I leave here alive, it will as a victorious King of Asgard." He said, stepping up to her, and stopping suddenly.  
"Or I will die trying." He said, dropping his staff and closing the gap between them.  
She thrust her sword up in defence, placing the point on his chest over his heart. He clearly wasn't in his right frame of mind, made sick by bloodlust and delusions of grandeur. He reached up and shimmed off his black coat and opened his hard leather vest and undershirt, exposing his silky skinned chest.

"Loki, please don't make me do this." She begged him, a tear falling from her eye.  
He smiled and realised it was the end. He realised in this moment that he had courted his own death, not only once, but twice. He had married her, right here, where she was to kill him.

"Do it, I can't walk away as a prisoner. Not again." he said, grabbing the sword blade and pressing it into his skin, causing some blood to break through his skin and trickle down his chest and stomach.

"Thor said that if Ragnarök came, he would kill me. Remember that?" he asked and she nodded, her sword hand shaking slightly.

"It's here, and he's gone. Odin is dead, the warriors three and Lady Sif, fallen to the sword of my, rabble, as you put it. Heimdallr is frozen in the weapons vault and it's been raided. There is no one left. Just you and me, here." he said to her, hoping this would persuade her to join him, they had won, all she needed to do was call off her army. But she had changed too much since she had planned to attack Asgard.

"Today, Asgard. Tomorrow, Yggdrasil." He tempted her, but it was too late.

"I will not sit on a throne drenched in the blood of the innocent." She said, looking up to meet his eyes one last time.  
She had made her choice. He was right; she was the only person who could stop him and his hate from consuming the Yggdrasil.  
"I'm sorry." She said, before violently, and firmly thrusting the sword up into his chest.

He gasped, and lurched forward with the force of the sword pushing his chest back. She let go of the sword and stepped back. She watched as he fell to his knees in slow motion. He clutched at the blade, wheezing for air, trying to pull it out his chest. This was no illusion. He had never thought that she would be the one to kill him. He trusted her. He looked up at her as her red cuts disappeared and she began to sink into realisation of what she had done. He fell over to the side, the sword being pushed back out slightly by him falling with his back to the ground. She walked up to him and gingerly put her foot on his chest. She grasped the sword handle and pulled it out slowly. She threw it on the ground beside him and she knelt down at his side. She lifted his head into her arms and she doubled over, crying onto his chest. Just yesterday, they were talking about having another baby.

"I'm so sorry, but you must understand." She said, lifting her head to look him in the eye as his skin seemed to flutter between Asgardian and Frost Giant.  
"I can't let you give me the world, at the cost of the world. Billions would die." She whispered to him.

"So you sacrifice me, us, our love?" he asked her, gasping for air as blood began to run out the corner of his mouth.

"A necessary sacrifice for peace." She whispered.  
"I love you Loki, I always will." She said, seeing the lights in his eyes begin to dim. The end was near.

"I love…" he wheezed, and then stopped.

She looked up at him and saw the lights in eyes leave. He was dead. She held him for a few moments before she softly put his head down on the soft green grass and with a soft gentle hand, ran her fingertips over his eyes, closing them to his death. She sat back on her haunches and took in the sight. Her love dead and bleeding on the grass under the pergola that saw them married. But now she needed to stop the battle. She stood up and walked over to the cliff. She took in a shaky breath and bellowed out despite her sadness.

"LOKI HAS FALLEN. SURRENDER AND I WILL BE LENIENT!" she shouted over the village below.  
Everyone stopped and looked up at her, and saw her silver armour covered in blood, the blood of Loki. After a few moments, the sound of metal swords falling to the stone ground filled the air and rang out against the hills and cliffs. Then he heard her men cheering. The battle was over and they had stopped Ragnarök. She looked back at her husband lying on the grass and heartache washed over her as she broke down crying, and rushed back to his side. She lifted up his limp neck and cradled his head to her chest, crying loudly and uncontrollably. 35 years of her life, gone. With no hope of it ever getting better. Thor came limping around the corner, supported by Heimdallr, and looked towards them.

"She killed him…" Thor said to Heimdallr.

"As you knew she would." Heimdallr said, looking to Thor.  
He nodded, but he had hoped his brother would listen to her reasoning. He never expected this to happen. Not really. Sif came running around the corner, thinking that there would be more Fire Giants here on the terrace, but she ran right into Thor and Heimdallr, watching Vara mourn over Loki. Thor looked over at her and smiled.

"Sif, I thought…" he said, reaching out and taking her hand.

"It was close, husband, but I'm much harder to kill than you think." She said to him. She looked over at Vara and Loki and sighed.  
"Your plan didn't go according to plan, did it?" she said softly.

"No. She killed him." Heimdallr told her.  
She nodded. It came at a great cost, but battle the war was contained to Asgard. And Asgard would rebuild. They always did.

"Here now, swear to me, that his children will never know of his villainy." Thor said to them. They nodded.  
"He died fighting for us. Not against us." Thor ordered and they nodded again.

"It's time." Heimdallr said to Thor and he shook his head.

"Give them as much time as she needs." Thor said, turning and limping off.  
Sif looked to Heimdallr and then back to Vara. She had integrated so well into the family, that Thor didn't see her as anything else but his sister. She ran up to Thor and steadied him as he made his way down to the Bifrost Bridge, where Vara's men were lining up the dead and living, on opposite sides of the bridge. Thor began the grim task of counting the dead.

"600 dead, Lord Thor." Vara's head general said to him as he walked up to him.

"Wounded?" Thor asked.

"368. 156 mortally, sir." He added, looking at the medics doing their best to mend the wounded.

"Alive?" Thor asked.

"1032. But your soldiers are yet to call in for roll call." The general warned him that those numbers would go up, depending on how many soldiers died.  
Thor nodded and looked up to meet the Fire Giant's gaze.

"Your queen Vara has killed Lord Loki. She may need some help getting his body down here." Thor told the general.

"No need." He heard her voice ring out from behind him.  
Thor, Sif and Heimdallr turned to see her carrying Loki's limp body herself. He was now fully dressed again, as if he was simply sleeping in her arms.  
Her general walked up to her and took the body from her. She handed it off willingly, unable to bear him and guilt at the same time for much longer.

"I'm sorry. If I'd known it would come to this…" Thor said as she walked up to Thor and the others.

"I did what I had to. His fire would have engulfed the whole Yggdrasil. I couldn't let that happen." She said, almost coldheartedly.  
Thor guessed she had closed off her heart already in this short time, to stop her from feeling the pain.

"Your sacrifice will never be forgotten." Lady Sif said to her, walking up to her and hugging her tightly.

"Thank you sister." Vara smiled and hugged her back.  
Since Thor had married her, she and Vara had become closer, almost like real sisters.  
"How many lives did we save?" Vara asked Thor as soon as Sif let her go.

"Just over half the village. And all the rest of the realm." He said to her.  
"The boats are piles of fire fuel, the city is destroyed, but my people live. Thanks to you and your men." Thor steadied himself and bowed graciously to her, as did Sif and Heimdallr. She nodded, inclining her head and accepting the complement.  
She then turned to her general.

"How many of our men fell?" she asked him and he looked past her.

"We shall soon see." He said, seeing Fire Giants and Asgardians helping each other onto the bridge.

When they were all there, Vara had lost ten men and Thor many more. But the battle was won. Then Vara turned her attention to the rabble that attacked.

"Where are they?" she asked her one soldier who was not too badly hurt.

"In the great throne room, my queen. Your personal guard are there, detaining them." She nodded.  
She would deal with this herself. Thor was welcome to sit in, but this was her people, and her problem.

"Sif, please go to Muspelheim and let Eldur and Isa know that the realms are safe." She asked her.  
She nodded, and then looked to the body of Loki lying in the arms of Vara's general.

"What do I tell them about Loki?" she asked sombrely.  
Vara looked to him and her heart bathed in sadness again.

"Nothing. I will tell them. If they ask, tell them that you don't know where he was fighting." Vara added, covering her bases.  
Sif nodded and walked off with Heimdallr to the observatory.  
"I will pass judgment on my people, do you wish to watch?" Vara turned to Thor and asked. He nodded and looked to the lifeless body of Loki in her general's arms.

"He won't get an Asgardian funeral." He said softly to her.  
She nodded and understood.

"Can I take him back home?" she asked and he nodded.  
She then looked to three men who were not wounded but only a little scratched up.  
"Find anything you can to make him a coffin." She ordered them and they went off.


	3. Chapter 3

Vara then went back to the main palace, accompanied by Thor and another one of her soldiers. Thor was in pretty bad shape and she would need to make this quick. She had to single out the leader, well, other than Loki, and kill him in front of everyone. It was a cruel way to earn their respect, yes. But Loki had taught her how to handle her people. And it worked. An iron hand inside a silk glove. She walked into the main palace and saw golden bricks laying everywhere. She stopped and looked around, seeing the destruction and it only maddened her more. Her red cuts popped into view and stayed there as she hissed and headed towards the throne room. She walked down the hall with purpose and fire in her eyes and Thor limped next to her, with help of her soldier. She glanced at him and knew he needed to get to a healing room soon or he too would die. She stopped and faced him and her soldier.

"Thor, you don't need to be here. Please get to a healing chamber." She said, tenderly putting her hand on his shoulder.  
He looked up at her and smiled.

"Perhaps you are right." he whispered.  
She nodded and looked to her soldier.  
"Take him where he wants to go. Do as he says. You are his to command now." she smiled at her man.

He nodded and turned Thor around, heading back out of the hall. Vara turned and continued her march down the hall. She burst through the throne room door suddenly and looked around. There were a good 100 men there, surround by her personal guard. They were all on their knees, bleeding and wounded. They looked up at her and she looked them in the eye as she strode up to the rabble.

"Who among you do you name as leader?" she said confidently, looking around.

"Never you, you ignorant little…" one Fire Giant tried to get to his feet and lunge at her, his hands still tied behind his back. Vara looked over at him and swiftly kicked him in the face. He fell back and scrambled back to his knees.

"Today is not the day to try my mercy." She whispered to him.  
"Now, I ask again." she said loudly.  
"Who among you do you name as your leader?" she looked around again.

"Loki." one whispered.  
She looked to him and nodded.

"Loki has fallen. To my very sword." She said, with no indication of pain or heart ache.  
Her men looked to her with shock. They guarded the palace day and night. They knew the inner working of the relationship between Vara and Loki like no other in the realm. They knew how much they loved each other. They all inclined their heads to her, to show her respect. She nodded to them as the rabble began to talk amongst themselves. Words like 'killed', and 'lover', were thrown around.

"Yes, he fell to Laevateinn. Now. Do I need to kill you all for your insolence, or will you give up your leader?" she urged them again.  
After a few moments, one man got to his feet and looked her dead in the eye.

"It is I you seek." He said, claiming responsibly.  
She nodded and walked up to him.

"Kneel." She said, feeling a chill in her spine. A Loki chill.  
He did as she asked, despite cries from his men. He hushed them up and knelt before Vara. She took out her sword from its scabbard at her side and held it over his head. Then she noticed the lava running through the veins of Laevateinn was no longer fiery red and orange, but blue and all its shades. She stared at it and everyone grew quiet.

"Blue lava." one man said to another but she had heard.  
She turned to him.

"What about blue lava?" she asked him.

"A broken heart bleeds blue lava on the day of Ragnarök." He told her the prophecy. She listened, took it in, and she understood.  
Her heart was in shattered pieces. She then turned her attention back to the leader.

"I assure you, the blade is just as sharp as it was when red lava ran in its veins." She said to him, more as a comfort. His death would be swift. She lifted her sword and he dipped his head, getting ready for the deathblow. But the sword swished past his head and embedded into the golden floor. He looked at the blue veins of lava at his side and then up at Vara.

"No more blood will be shed this day." she whispered to him.  
"Now you owe me." she said to him.  
She looked around at all of them.  
"You all do." She said to them.  
"You will all be imprisoned in Muspelheim until I feel otherwise, and trained in stone work." She said, taking hold of her sword and pulling it from the gold floor.  
She turned and began to walk to the door.  
"There is another mausoleum to be built back home." She added as she reached the door.

"My queen…" one man came into her sight just outside the throne room.  
She looked at him and he inclined his head, before holding out Loki's staff to her. She looked at it and remembered the first time she saw it, glowing in the dark throne room of her father. How different it looked now. Dull and as dead as its owner. She reached out and gingerly took it from him.

"Thank you." She said to him.  
She remembered how it used to stand next to her own staff in their bedroom. Her eyes teared up, but she needed to hold it back for later.  
"Take them to the observatory. I will be along shortly." She ordered her private guard. They nodded and began bringing them all to their feet.

She walked off. She had to go see Thor before she left. She walked up the mangled and crumbling stair case up to the healing chamber while her men took the prisoners down to the observatory.

When she reached the door of the healing chamber, her guard was standing at the door. He bowed as she opened the door and walked in. She walked in on Thor writing letters.

"Sweet baby Sleipnir, Thor. You should be healing already." she said to him, walking up to the desk.

"Vara, I feel an Odin sleep coming on." He said, looking up at her wearily.  
She nodded and understood. This was prophesized. He would be sleeping for a long time.  
"Heimdallr will stay at the observatory; the others will be granted asylum on Midgard with the Avengers. When I awaken, we will gather again, and rebuild Asgard." He said, putting the last wax seal on the last letter before pushing away from the desk.  
"Watch over my brother." He said, walking over to her and leaning heavily on her.

She dropped Loki's sceptre and grasped him, steadying him on his feet. She walked him over to the healing chamber and sat him down on the side.

"Where is my Lady Sif?" he asked her and she looked down at him.

"I sent her to tell Eldur that the battle was contained here. She should be back soon." She said, beginning to take off his armour.  
If he was going to sleeping for ten years, or more, she wanted him to have a comfortable sleep.

"I'll ask Heimdallr to keep an eye out for me. If anything happens, my army will be ready to defend you. Sleep easy and heal." She said, placing his armour on the floor next to the bed.  
He chuckled and closed his eyes, resting. No doubt he wanted to wait till Sif got there. Just then the doors opened slowly and Sif walked in.

"My darling." She said, walking up to Vara and Thor.  
Vara frowned, she never called him that.

"My lady." Thor held out his hand and she tenderly put her hand in his.  
He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed them softly. Vara stepped back and let Sif walk into her spot.

"I'll take my leave now. Sleep well Thor, see you when I see you." Vara said, bowing to him.

"Vara, there is a letter for you too." Thor said, gesturing to the desk.  
Vara nodded and walked to the desk, picking up the letter addressed to her. She looked at all the letters, and they were addressed to just about everyone in Thor's life who was still alive.

"Thor, what about these others?" she asked looking over to him.

"Have Hogan take them to the vassals." Sif said, looking to Vara.  
She nodded and pocketed all the letters, to give to Hogan, when she found him.

"Farewell Vara. See you when I see you." Thor repeated her goodbye.  
She nodded and bent down to pick up Loki's staff. Sif watched her carefully as she picked it up, almost wanting to grab it herself, but it belonged to Vara now. Vara looked at it, saddened yet again by how dull it looked.

"Do you miss him?" Sif asked her suddenly.  
Vara looked at her and smiled weakly. And nodded.

"I don't…" Vara started but Sif stopped her.

"Wait outside. Let me put my love to bed, and then we can talk more." She asked Vara and she nodded.  
Vara turned and walked out the room, closing the door behind her.

Sif suddenly turned to Thor and her eyes flashed green and then became a more brilliant hue of blue. Thor noticed and frowned.

"I thought she'd never leave." She said to him, with a harsh edge to her voice.

"Sif?" he asked and she thrust up her hand and grabbed his throat.

"No brother, well, at least not all of her." she smiled and in that smile Thor saw Loki.

"LO…" he tried to scream but Loki hiding in Sif's body clamped his hand around his mouth.

"Shush now, don't get so worked up, you're about to be put to bed." Loki said, pressing the buttons on the bed quickly and pushing Thor down into the gold mist. The machine began to take its effects as Thor grew weaker and his eye lids drooped.

"And here we are again, brother." Loki said, looking down at Thor as he fell asleep.  
"You never learn. I always win. One way or another. So you stopped Ragnarök this time, but what about next time, or the time thereafter." Loki said, bending over the bed and planting a kiss on Thor's cheek.

"Get well brother. So I can kill you myself." Loki said, standing up right and walking to the door.

He opened the door and saw Vara talking with the guard. She turned and smiled at Sif, but he could see the hurt in her eyes.

"I asked him to stay here, to keep watch over Thor." Vara said to him, thinking he was Sif.

"Ah, there's no need." He said to her, in Sif's voice.  
"Heimdallr will be here, and a few of our guards as well. He'll be fine." he said to her. She nodded and looked to her soldier who nodded and walked off to go join the others.

"I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner." Vara started but Loki interrupted her.

"You were saying something about Loki, before you left." He asked her and she nodded.

"I don't think I'll ever get over this day." she said, suddenly showing the emotion she had been keeping back for the battle.  
She lifted her hand to her eyes, blocking them and Loki could see that he was torn apart inside, for having to make the decision to kill him. Loki suddenly pulled her into a hug and held her tightly, forgetting that he was supposed to be acting like Sif.

"He'll be reborn. We Asgardians always are." He said, trying to comfort her.

"Will he remember?" Vara cried harder into Sif's shoulder.  
Loki nodded.

"Yes." he said.

"Then he'll hate me." Vara cried harder.  
Loki nodded. It would definitely take a while to get over the fact that she killed him.

"Perhaps, but you must try and find him. He loved you so fiercely in this life; it will carry over to the next." He tried to convince her to not give up on him.

"You're forgetting one thing Sif." Vara said, pulling away from her.  
"Loki wasn't an Asgardian." She said sadly.  
Vara didn't know of course, that Loki had bribed the names keeper to not erase his name. He would be reborn indefinitely, but not because he was an Asgardian. Sif nodded and looked at Vara. He couldn't do anything else now for the sake of keeping up this ruse.

"No, he wasn't. You're right." he said to her.  
In that one line, was the truth about himself that he had always struggled to accept. It seemed Vara had accepted it much faster than him.

"I'll miss him, like I've never missed anyone else." Vara said finally. Sif nodded.  
"When he was locked up, or missing, at least I knew there was a chance of him coming back. But now…" she stopped.  
She smiled weakly as a tear ran down her cheek.  
"Farewell Sif. Till we meet again." she said, coming in for one more hug.

Loki hugged her, and cherished that moment. Until he could separate his consciousness from Sif, he wouldn't see her again. Even then, it might be too much of a shock to see him as a woman. He would have to die again, and be reborn again, hopefully as a man, before he could come for her again.

"Till we meet again Vara." He said softly, and sadly, almost letting his female Sif voice falter.

He reluctantly let go of her and she left. He watched as she left, walking down the steps. He wondered how she still managed to walk, given what she had been forced to do. He would be a pile of messy tears if he had to kill her. He sighed and watched her till she was no longer in sight and then he leaned back on the door, taking in what had just happened. He fell to his knees and began to sob quietly. Now he understood the pain of a Midgardian divorce.

Vara reached the bottom of the steps and took out the letter Thor had written to her.

'Dearest sister. I'm sorry to ask this of you, but I do not have the strength to be awake much longer. I know you now have control of your people, and I must ask you to take up the role of guardian of the Yggdrasil. Your army is strong enough, and with Asgard on her knees, the people of the World's Tree need you. Just as I did today. I thank you for the sacrifice you have made, and as long as I am king, Muspelheim will have my kindest thoughts, and my love. As will the royal family.' She read.

She looked up and felt the tears running down her cheeks. She didn't even know she was crying again, or maybe it was still. She wiped her eyes and looked back down to read further.

'If there is anything left in Loki's palace and suite, you may with my permission take anything you want. I doubt he will mind if his wife has all his earthly possessions. Many regards, till we meet again. Thor.'

Vara looked up again. She hadn't even thought that far yet. They still had things in the palace. She would need to clear it out. She folded up the letter and stuck it in her pocket and headed out towards the Bifrost Bridge. When she reached the observatory, her men were waiting for her.

"I need 100 men to help me clear out Loki's palace." She said not really expecting anyone to volunteer, but it seemed she had won the respect of her men and many stepped up right away. She nodded to them and smiled.

"Thank you." She said, looking to her general.

"Have them all locked in the Pit. Their classes begin tomorrow." She said to him, referring to the prisoners.  
He nodded and began overseeing the crossover from Asgard. Vara turned and walked back down the bridge just as the first lot went through. She sent 80 men to the palace, and told them to take anything that wasn't bolted down. She took the other 20 to Loki's suite in the main palace. Together, they took everything that Loki had left behind. Beds and books, couches and mirrors. Everything that entailed a life of a prince of Asgard. They even took a healing chamber that had been moved to his palace, to ease Eldur's bones as a human. Off in the distance, Vara could hear Sif crying. At the horror of Ragnarök, no doubt. She was a warrior, but even a warrior could only take so much. Vara and her men left her to her grief as they left the main palace.

They carried everything down to the observatory and waited their turn. By the time everything was ready to be moved through the Bifrost, Vara finally remembered she had to take his body with her. She stood at the observatory, as everything went through. When nothing was left, but the golden box that now held the body of her husband, and her general and Heimdallr, she smiled at the golden box. It was fitting for a prince of Asgard, the lord of lies and silver tongued spells. She reached into her pocket and handed the unopened letters to Heimdallr.

"Sif asked me to give them to Hogan to deliver to the realms. I haven't seen him, when you see him again, can you give them to him. Heimdallr nodded and took them from her. She looked to the box again and her general walked up to it and began pushing it into the observatory. Vara said goodbye to Heimdallr and they went back to Muspelheim.

As she and her general walked out the other side, Eldur, Isa and Astrid where there at the gate, waiting for her and Loki to come walking through. But all they saw was the coffin, Vara and her general. They also saw Vara carrying their father's staff. Isa ran up to her mother and Eldur just hung his head. He didn't have to hear the news. He knew his father was in the golden coffin.

"Mom, what's in the box?" Isa asked her mother as she walked up to her.  
Vara looked up at her and smiled weakly, tears brimming her eyes.

"Who do you think?" she said softly, holding up Loki's staff for her to see.  
Isa gasped again and tears flooded her eyes. She threw her arms around Vara and they hugged tightly as Eldur walked up to them.

"It's dad, isn't it?" he asked and Vara nodded over the shoulder of her daughter.  
"It all happened so fast." Vara said, letting go of Isa.  
"He was at the pergola behind the main palace, fighting a Fire Giant rebel. I… I looked away for one moment, and when I looked back, the Giant was bearing down towards me." she said, wiping her tears away with a flat hand.  
"Your father… he stabbed him in the back with his ice sword." Vara said, watching as the general stopped next to her with the box.  
"The Giant turned, and stabbed him instead of me." Vara stopped and began to sob softly.  
"He saved me, one last time." Vara said, smiling weakly again.

Isa and Eldur seemed to accept this. Their father was many things, and he loved their mother fiercely. They had seen him protect her from everything from wild Bilgesnipe, to run away Megastags that now inhabited the forests of Muspelheim. They had not seen in the last few months that his anger grew to breaking point.

"We need to build him another mausoleum, of white marble like the others. But I want a statue for him as well." Vara said, beginning to explain to her children how she wanted him to be remembered.

"I think we should rename the lake." Eldur said, remembering how much work his father put into making the vast amount of ice that melted into the lake.  
"Lake Loki." he suggested and Vara nodded.  
It was appropriate after all.

"Put his coffin in my mother's mausoleum for now. When his is ready, there will be ceremony as we move him." Vara said to her general.

He nodded and called to two others to help him with the heavy golden coffin. Vara was pretty sure it was made of the fallen bricks of the main palace in Asgard.

"And the prisoners? What fate awaits them?" Eldur asked as Vara hugged her daughter as she sobbed into her shoulder.

"The Pit, for now. Stonemasons in the employ of the royal guilds later. Prisoners, none the less." She explained to Eldur.

He nodded as he watched the last of the Giants being led to the transport that would later take them to the dark desolate prison called the Pit. It was cold and damp and dank. Torturous conditions for a Fire Giant.

"And what of the man that killed Dad?" he asked, and Vara could see bitterness building in his eyes. Just like Loki's eyes when she first met him.

"Dead. Burning in Asgard." She explained to him.  
He nodded and looked to her sword. He noticed the sword lava was blue.

"Blue lava." He exclaimed and he then looked up at her.  
"A broken heart bleeds blue lava on the day of Ragnarök." He repeated what the soldier had said to her. Vara rolled her eyes at him.

"Not you too. Where are you reading these scrolls?" Vara asked him.

"Asgard. Vanaheim has a copy too." He said to her as she reached out and took his hand. She nodded and remembered how much he liked to travel.  
"Let's go home." She said, walking hand in arm with her children.

So the rest of the realms went on. A white marble mausoleum was built for Loki, with roses carved into the pillars, and the silent gold coffin lying on top of a pedestal of marble in the centre of the main room. At the back of the room, was a giant marble stature of him, in his battle armour, looking as dashing as ever, his helmet atop his head, and staff in his hands. Vara had almost forgotten that he didn't really deserve to be revered as a hero. But for the sanity of her children, she hid the truth from them. Not a day went by that she didn't go to that mausoleum that kept his body preserved with magic, just like her mother and father's bodies. Eldur and Isa went on with their lives, but Vara's seemed to have stopped. Just like when she would visit her mother's mausoleum, she seemed to go to Loki's for just about everything. To rant and rave, to find solace and peace. Loki had taken the place of her mother.


	4. Chapter 4

Years went on, and very little changed. Everything went on spinning, and before Vara knew it, another 40 years had passed. Loki had been dead for 40 years. Vara had aged very little, and so had her children. She guessed that they would all live a long life, being both of Frost, Fire giant and Asgardian descent.

One day, without warning, the Bifrost shot down from the sky. Vara was in Loki's mausoleum and it suddenly caught her attention. She got up from a seat inside and ran out of Loki's mausoleum. She knew the Biforst could only be opened from Asgard, and could only be opened by either Odin's Deathstaff or Heimdallr's sword. She strode up to the site and expected to see Thor come walking out the dust, which he did. He smiled at her as he strode up to her, followed by a young man, no older than 25. He had short, dark hair and green eyes and was dressed in Midgardian clothing. She frowned, but welcomed Thor none the less.

"Great Gods of Asgard. Thor, welcome back." she said, flinging her arms around him and hugging him tightly.

"Vara, it's so good to see you again." he laughed, hugging her back, lifting her slightly off the ground as Isa and Eldur watched from their own palaces, before heading down to the site.

"How long has it been?" he asked, setting her down on the ground again.

"40 years. That's some nap." She joked with him.  
He laughed his healthy full bellied laugh, and she smiled.  
It was so good to see him again, and so healthy.

"Indeed. But I have been awake for 30 years." He corrected her.  
She frowned and slipped her hands onto her hips.

"And no visits, your brother would be very disappointed that you're neglecting his family like that." She joked yet again and he laughed, but then eased out of it.

"Talking of my brother, there is someone I would like for you to meet." He said, gesturing to the boy behind him.  
He walked up to Vara and held out his hand, like the Midgardian greeting.

"Hi, I'm Serrure." He said to her and she took his hand, and shook it, remembering the greeting.

"Hello." She said, looking to Thor nervously.  
"Is this your son, Thor?" she asked him, letting go of Serrure's hand.  
Thor laughed and put his hand on the young man's shoulder.

"No Vara, my dear. He's not." he laughed.  
Vara frowned and looked to the young man.

"Just who are you?" she asked him.

"Oh, yeah, Thor told me about the whole, sword through the heart thing. I don't remember much, and to be honest, I'm glad I don't remember that part." He said in his young, jovial, Midgardian tone. He was just so cute; she couldn't be blunt with him.

"Sword, hearts, remembering or the lack there of, you're going to have to be a little more specific." She urged him on.  
He smiled at her. A smile she recognised, but it had been such a long time since she had seen it. But it couldn't be. No. It was just time for her afternoon nap, that's all.

"But I do remember you." He said to her, blushing slightly.  
Now she had no idea of who this boy might be. And he was getting too familiar.

"Thor, tell me who this fool is or I will knock his head off his shoulders." She threatened.  
Thor just pushed Serrure in front of her, closely and smiled.

"Take a look." He said.  
She looked back at the boy, who was still blushing like a fool. She looked back at Thor.

"I'm looking, I don't remember him." she said softly out the side of her mouth.  
Thor smiled.

"Look closer. At his eyes." Thor said to her. She sighed and looked back at Serrure's eyes and she saw it. Her mouth hung open and she looked to Thor, who nodded.

"No, it can't be. He wasn't Asgardian…" she whispered, in shock.

"Apparently I bribed the names keeper. To keep making sure I'm reborn." Serrure said to her.  
She looked to him and was still in shock.  
"You were always fiery, my darling." Serrure walked up to her and placed a kiss on her cheek, his hand resting tenderly on his waist.

She watched as he pulled away, but made to take her hand. She pulled it away quickly and backed away from him.

"Are you playing some kind of trick on me?" she looked between the two of them.  
"He has Loki's eyes, but in green. And he sounds like him, and kisses… no." she said, backing away more.

"It's no trick Vara, this is Loki, reincarnated. I found him on Midgard." Thor began to explain.

"Paris." Loki cut in. Vara chuckled.

"How ironic." She mused.

"I know it's hard to believe. But it's me, my love." He said, walking up to her and taking her hands. Her hands were shaking but she couldn't pull them away from him.  
"I was reborn just like anyone else, but then I met Thor and he restored part of my memories." He said, smiling at Thor.

If there was one person who could convince Vara that this was Loki, it was Loki himself.  
"At first, I thought they were just nightmares. But then I realised that it was fragments of memories." He said, looking to Vara again.  
"They were violent, filled with war, and death. But there was one…" he said, looking down at their hands, seeing that she was still wearing her wedding ring.  
He smiled and she saw her Loki in that smile again.  
"It brought me peace. Hope." He added, looking up at her red eyes.  
"I was standing on the beach, watching a radiant young woman play in the waves. The sun was setting. There was this, big wave…" he said but was cut short.

"It came and knocked us down." She said, through her tears.  
"We were wearing…" she began but was cut off by him.

"White." He said excitedly and then carried on.  
"All white, except for our shoes. At first I though it was a wedding, but then I remembered that it felt like it was a ray of happiness in a pile of sadness." He explained to her and she hung her head.  
He lifted his hand to her chin and lifted it to meet his eyes again.  
"And who's sad on their wedding day?" he joked.  
She chuckled and saw Isa and Eldur walking up to them. Loki looked over and let go of Vara's hands.

"My, how you've grown." Loki said to the two of them, walking up to them.

"Uh, sorry, who are you?" Isa asked, in her shielded manner she greeted strangers with.  
Vara knew they would never believe him, so she had to break the news to them.

"Isa, Eldur, this, is Serrure. He's from Midgard." Vara explained to them.  
They seemed to accept that part, and greeted him happily. Then came the tricky part.  
"He's your father's, reincarnation." She said to them and they looked at her, before looking back to Loki. He shrugged and nodded.

"It's true." He said, looking to Vara.  
He slowly slipped his hand in with hers and she gasped, feeling his cool touch again.

"Re… reincarnation. But I thought he couldn't be reborn." Isa asked as Eldur studied him closely in silence. If this was his father, he would know it.

"Long story short, I bribed the name keeper. So I'll always be reborn, just like the other Asgardians." Loki explained to them.  
Vara let go of his hand and backed away, back to Thor.

"How sure are you?" she asked Thor.  
Thor nodded and watched as Loki interacted with his children.

"After that memory, you doubt it?" he asked Vara and she looked at the boy.

"But he's so… Midgardian. And young." She looked back to Thor.  
"He's far too young for me to even…" the thought crossed her mind.  
Why did Thor bring him here, surely it was to reunite them.

"You were young, compared to Loki's age. Besides, he's died once more since you killed him." Thor explained to her.

"What!" she shouted and they three youngsters turned and looked at her.  
She smiled and pulled Thor away.

"When?" she asked him.

"When I first awoke, I found out that he had inhabited Sif's body, to remain alive, till he could separate from her. When he did, I wasn't too happy about him invading my wife's body, so I killed him." Thor admitted.

"You what?" Vara asked and Thor rolled his eyes her. She had heard him perfectly.  
"So what now?" Vara asked him, looking at the three young ones.

"I've brought your husband back to you. Can you think of nothing else to do but to stand here and squabble?" he asked her, with a wicked smile on his face.

"He's too young. I won't even think of it." she said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Wait as long as you want. He's Asgardian again, and will live a long life again." Thor said, heading towards the Bifrost.

"What, wait, what are you doing…" she asked following him.

"I brought him home; I have some things to take care of." He said, stepping onto the disc as the sky began to light up.

"You're leaving me to baby sit him…" she shouted as the light shot down and picked him up. The light disappeared and so did Thor.

"Thor…THOR!" she shouted back up at him, as if he could hear her.

"Heimdallr, tell him I'll get him back for this."

"She says to tell you that she'll get you back for this." Heimdallr passed on the message and Thor chuckled.

"I'm sure she will." Thor laughed.


	5. Chapter 5

Vara turned back to the three of them, who were laughing at her as she shouted up at Thor for leaving her with someone who old enough to be her last child with Loki.

"What are you laughing at?" she said, looking to Eldur and Isa in particular.  
They gulped hard, seeing their mother's cuts fluttering. But Loki didn't miss a beat and he wasn't afraid. He turned and walked up to her.

"How about some honey mead, to calm your fires." He said, gesturing to the palace. She looked at him and saw that he wasn't afraid of her. She shrugged and walked off, heading back to the palace. Loki turned to his children and winked. They waved them off and went back to their respective palaces, giving him time to work on her.  
He walked off after her as she stomped into the palace. Astrid was at the door and Vara threw her staff at her as she walked in angrily. She caught it, as she always did.

"Vara?" Astrid asked her, seeing her angry for the fist time in 4 decades. Then came walking in the little Midgardian.

"Astrid, hello." He said, walking up to her and holding out his hand.  
Astrid was more surprised by the fact this human wasn't scared of her at all. She bent down and shook his hand.

"Hello. Who are you?" She responded and he let go.

"Loki." he said quite matter of factly. Then he watched as Vara marched to her throne

"Please excuse me; I need to find Vara some peace." He said to her, walking off as Vara flopped down into her throne. Astrid watched from the shadows. This was bound to be good.  
Vara watched him as he strode seductively over to her; much like her Loki did so many times before.

"You seem to have convinced my children of your, past." She said, brooding, watching him as he walked up the stairs to her side.

"Our children. Yes, after a few choice words, and teachings, they are convinced." He said, sitting down on the right arm rest of her throne.  
"Now if only their mother can be so easily convinced." He said, leaning over to kiss her cheek but she jumped up suddenly and walked away, leaving to fall helplessly into the throne, flat on his face. She looked back at him and smirked.

"You're not as agile as you used to be." she said, turning and looking at him, hands on her hips.

"Damn it Vara, did that memory mean nothing, prove nothing?" he asked, rubbing his aching cheek. She was taken aback by his guile.

"How dare you speak to me like that?" she said, frowning at the insolence of this little Midgardian.  
He stood up and nodded.

"Sorry, it's just, that was the memory that brought me around last time we were in this, predicament, I thought that if I lead with that, you would believe me." he explained to her.

"Last time, what do you mean last time?" she asked, testing him.  
He sighed heavily not unlike a teenager from Midgard.

"When you left Asgard and asked Odin to erase my memories of you, do you remember none of this?" he asked, frowning.  
She watched him carefully before she nodded once.

"Well done." She said, turning and walking off, heading towards the door of the palace.

"What did I do?" he asked her, walking off after her.

"For telling the truth. For not faking." She said, walking out and he followed her as she rounded the right corner of the palace.

"Why are we going to your parents mausoleums?" he asked, as she stopped suddenly. He stopped at her side and looked out. There were now three mausoleums.

"It's been 40 yeas Loki, did you not think I had buried you?" she asked, seeing his suddenly paler complexion as he swallowed hard and looked at her. She was testing him of course. No person could look their death in the eye and not get queasy.

"Come." she ordered and walked off, but he stood firmly in palace. This was something he didn't want to see. Proof that he had died. Thor had told him much, and his memories had restored most of what he knew, but this was different. He was facing his mortality, when all his life had had heard that he was immortal.

"Vara, please wait." He asked, not stepping a foot forward towards her. She stopped and turned back to see him struggling with this. She smiled. He had just passed another test. Maybe this was her Loki after all. She walked back up to him and took his hand gently.

"It's alright. I'm right here." she said, beginning to lead him to his mausoleum.  
She led him into and through the mausoleum, and he looked around, taking it all in. this had been a labour of love, and lots of time and money must have gone into making it for him. He was touched by it all. When they reached the end room, there was a gold coffin in the centre of the room with a massive sculpture right at the back of the room. He looked at it in awe. This was clearly how she saw him. Strong, independent, confidant, handsome. She turned and looked at him as he looked up and down the sculpture of Loki.

"This is where we buried you." She said, sombrely.  
He swallowed hard and looked at the coffin. It was made of gold, which was nice. But it looked like the gold from Asgard.

"How much has Thor told you about your death?" she asked, walking around the coffin, standing between it and the sculpture.

"Not much. Just that I was stabbed in the heart, and died, under the pergola in the back garden of the main palace in Asgard. The one where we got married." He explained to her, running his hand over the gold.

"He didn't tell you who killed you?"

"No." he said, looking up at her.  
She nodded and walked over to the seat to the sculpture's left.

"Of course, he would want me to tell you." She said, sitting down.  
He walked round the coffin and sat down beside her.

"Well this seems familiar." He said, looking at her and she smiled, remembering their first honest conversation well over 70 years ago.

"Yes. But back to your death." She said, pulling Laevateinn from her side and placing across her lap. He looked at it and frowned.

"The last time I saw that, it was red and orange lava." he said, looking up at her face.  
She reached out and ran her hand over the blade.

"It turned blue, the day I stabbed you through the heart with it." She said, looking up at him.

"…You?" he asked.

"Yes. I killed you." She said, looking back down at the blade.  
"Technically, I killed us. I've never been the same since Ragnarök." She admitted. She looked up at his shocked face. He needed this to be explained to him.

"You attacked Asgard, with a small rabble of Fire Giants. Thor came to me, out of desperation, and asked me to help him keep Ragnarök contained in Asgard. I went, with my army, and I found you, under that pergola." she explained.  
He nodded, listening to what had happened.

"I tried to talk you down from the fight, I told you that if you stopped there, that you would not be harshly punished. But you refused. Your anger, your war, threatened to overtake the whole Yggdrasil. So I had to stop you. So I killed you." She said, looking up at him.

"And yet here you sit, listening to my story." She said, hoping that if he really was Loki, he could forgive her.  
He stood up and began to pace. Just like Loki would when he had to think some things through. She watched him and the way he contorted his face, thinking, was uncanny.

"So you just, killed me?" he asked, stopping and turned to look at her.  
She nodded.

"I did warn you." She said to him.

"Yes but just like that. After 23 years together, you just…" he asked her and she nodded.

"I know you think I should regret it, but I don't." she said, putting Laevateinn down on the seat beside her.

"I saved the universe, at the cost of us. If I had to do it again, I would." She said standing up and walking over to him.  
He stopped in front of her, his angry flaming. But she wrapped her hands around his and felt his signature coldness. He looked down at their hands.

"But that doesn't mean that it doesn't hurt." She said, looking up to meet his eyes.  
His green Loki eyes.  
"Or that I don't miss you." She said, letting go of his hands.  
They stared at each other for a long time before she realized she wasn't breathing, once again, lost and drowning in his eyes. But she snapped to and turned, going to collect her sword.

"I don't know what Thor thought, bringing you here." she said slipping it into her scabbard.

"He knew that you needed healing." He told her as she stopped in front of him again.

"What I need is my husband. Alive and here." she said, looking down at her hand, it was stinging. She saw that she had cut herself on the blade. She squeezed her hand closed and kept it from him.

"I'm here. I may not be the handsome God you remember." He said, looking up at the sculpture.  
"But I'm here." he said, looking back at her.  
Then he heard the dripping. He looked down and saw a small pool of blood next to her foot on the floor.

"Vara…" he said, reaching out and taking her hand.

He opened it gently and saw the cut. He sighed and reached up, placing his hand over hers. She felt coldness rush over her skin and then warmth penetrate it, pulling the flesh together, healing her wound. She looked up at him, and saw her Loki. For the first time in decades, she looked upon the face of her husband, warm and alive. Tears brimmed her eyes as he pulled away and nothing was there but the blood. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the blood away. She watched him, as he tenderly took care of her. He looked up to see her eyes filling with lava and he smiled. There was nothing about this life that surprised him. He could only be her Loki.

"So, do you have girlfriend on Midgard?" she asked him, finally accepting that this was her Loki, but also not. He was not hers to love anymore.

"There's one girl, I like her a little. Her name is Leah." He said, looking up at her and blushing. She smiled at him.

"Well, then, turn on your charm and she'll be yours." She said to him as he let go of her hand. She reclaimed her hand and looked at him.

"Are you seriously giving me dating advice?" he smirked at her.  
She had to admit, it was strange. His widowed wife, telling him how to land a girl.

"Apparently." She giggled.  
But then things turned serious again.  
"I'm not sure what you expected. I'm well over 600 years old Loki. You're barely out of 30." She said to him.  
"It's best if you just move on, and find a girl your age. This age." She broke the news to him.

"You know, I was never a sucker for age. You know, I was over twice your age when I met you." He said to her.  
She nodded and understood.

"But things are different now. I've mourned you. Will mourn you. For the rest of my life." she explained.  
"And besides, with me being older, things might work out differently. Be different. Between us." She said, looking up at him.

"You know, on Earth, we call them cougars." He smirked at her and she frowned.  
He needed to explain it to her.  
"When older women date, marry, sleep with younger men." He elaborated.  
She blushed and turned away fro him.

"Who said anything about sleeping together?" she asked him.  
He walked up behind her and moved her long black hair away from her neck.

"When you say things might be different, between us, it's kinda obvious." He said, leaning down and kissing her tenderly on her neck. She wanted to fight it, had to fight it, but couldn't. She gave into him, leaning back into him and exposing more of her neck to him as she sighed out in relief. He smirked and kissed her neck more vehemently, but then she pulled away from him, pushing off and turning in one swift motion.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me." she said, as Loki watched as her blush subsided.

"I do." He said, walking up to her, intending to kiss her on the lips now, but she thrust out her hand and stopped him. He looked down at her hand.

"No, Serrure." She said, calling him by his Midgardian name.  
His face fell. She was right, what did Thor expect by bringing him here?  
"You are not my husband, you never will be. I made sure he would never come home to me or my children again." she said, dropping her hand.  
"I do not get to feel love or loved, ever again. That is my self imposed punishment." She explained to him.  
He nodded and looked up at her from under his brows. She never imagined she'd be taller than him, even just by a little bit.

"When I stuck this sword through your heart, it ended. It all ended with Ragnarök. Just as it was prophesized." She said, wiping her tears away.  
She wanted nothing more but to love him, to accept him back into her life and bed. But he was so young, too young. Even Isa would find him too young.

"Ragnarök prophesized the end of days. Not our relationship. Not our marriage." He countered. He stepped up to her and she felt him wrap his hands around her waist. She closed her eyes and turned away from him.  
"Look at your ring." He told her and she glanced at him through one eye.  
She then looked down at her ring and saw the usually green stone glimmering blue in the silver setting. The ring knew it was him, so why didn't her heart?

"I know it's you…" she said, looking into his eyes.  
He just knew too much, and knew her too well not to be.  
"But we've danced this dance too many times now. Every time, you make me love you, you hurt me or Thor or both. I can't do this anymore." She said, pushing his hands off her gently.  
"I never imagined saying this, but I don't deserve you." She added.

"Me, the bringer of Ragnarök, God of Mischief, Destroyer of Worlds?" he asked her and she nodded.

"For all your crimes, you never tried to hurt me, not really. But me, I thrust my sword through your chest. I killed you." She said, looking down at the floor.  
"Your old room is free for you to use until Thor comes back for you. Thereafter, you are free to see Isa and Eldur whenever you want, but my heart is locked off from you forever." she passed her judgment.  
He looked up at her, hoping once more to persuade her to take him back, but she was right, her heart was locked off from him.

"The room I stayed in when I first got here?" he asked her and she nodded.

"After you… I cleared out our palace and your suite. The things from your suite are in that room. You should feel at home there." She said as she began to walk past him. But then she stopped.  
"I do take one thing back." she said, turning and looking at him.

"I do regret killing you." She said, looking at him and then at the statue.  
She held her gaze for a long time and then looked back at him.  
"Do whatever Thor brought you back to do. Then forget me. Find Leah, and make her your new wife." She said, looking to him.

"But I don't even like her that much." He said, turning and looking at her.

"Fine then. Just forget about me." she said.  
"Talk to Astrid as to the new schedule for the palace. I have things to attend to." she said, turning and walking off.

She still had some matters of state to attend to, and then she thought she would hunting. She had the overwhelming urge to kill something. She walked straight to her council room and closed the doors behind her, while Loki went up to the old room he used to sleep in. He climbed the stairs and stopped at the top, looking into Vara's room. The door was standing open; just a little peek wouldn't hurt anyone. He walked in, slowly at first, looking around the room. Everything was still the same. He looked to his left and saw her staff standing against the wall, next to his old staff. He reached out and took hold if it, swirling the gold shaft in his hand and smiling.

"Hello old friend." He smiled.  
Then he had a thought. Her off put from him was how old he looked, or was, but looked mostly. His demeanour had not changed; his heart was just a little more Asgardian gold rather than Jötunheim silver. He looked to the mirror. He knew how he would solve this problem. He walked up to it and set the sceptre down on the bed.

"Okay. Let's see if I still got it." he said, beginning to weave his magic spell.  
He was still the master of illusions, and if took an illusion for her love him again, then he was willing to do that. He watched as his face changed slightly, and began to look more like that statue down in his mausoleum. He smiled as his green and yellow hoodie and blue jeans began to change to black leather with gold adornments.

Down below in the council room, Vara suddenly heard the heavy footfalls of Asgardian boots trudging down the hall. She stood, expecting to Thor to open the doors. The door began to open and Vara sighed and hung her head heavily, looking down at the table top.

"Thank God you're back to get him. I don't know if you should ever bring him back to see me." she said as the door closed and before she looked up.

She got the shock of her life, seeing her Loki standing at the door. Tall, handsome and dressed in his Asgardian armour. His hair was short, like the first time she met him after the memory wipe, but it was her Loki. Even his eyes were blue.

"Loki…" she said, her eyes brimming with tears.

"Something wrong, my love. It looks like you've seen a ghost." He said to her, in his silky seductive tone.  
He smiled his wicked smile at her and she stepped out from behind the desk.

"I'm going mad. I knew it." she said, walking back, too afraid of what he might be, a hallucination, a trick, her psyche playing games with her lonely mind.

"You're not mad." He said, seductively strolling towards her, just like he used to.  
Her back hit the wall as he neared her. He reached her in two strides and she turned away from him.  
"It's me. Look at me." he said and she looked, looking him up and down. It was him.

"Loki…" she said, again, reaching up and running her hand over his cheek.  
He sighed out of relief to feel her touch again and closed his eyes.  
"If this is the way you want me, then I'll stay this way always." He said, leaning his forehead against hers. She began to weep softly; having him back was too overwhelming that she couldn't stop herself.  
"I'm not going anywhere. I don't care what you say. It took me 40 years to get back to you, and I'm not leaving you ever again." he whispered to her, feeling her hot tears run down her cheeks.

"No more Ragnarök?" she whimpered and he nodded.

"No more wars, no more bloodshed. No more Ragnarök." He whispered to her.  
She smiled and reached up to run her fingers through his hair.

"I'm so sorry; I should never have killed you. I'm so sorry…" she said quickly but he smiled at her instead of scolding her.

"I deserved it. You did the right thing." He whispered to her.  
She nodded and ran her finger nails down his neck, feeling his muscle, his silky skin, taking in his cool minty scent.

"Kiss me…" she said and he quickly obliged without being told twice.  
Unlike their first kiss, this one picked up right where they left off. Hot and steamy and torrid from the word go. She pulled him close to her and he lifted her off the ground. She wrapped her legs around his waist and held onto his neck as he turned and carried her to the table. He set her down and broke the kiss, before knocking everything off the table with his free hand as his other cradled the small of her back. She watched him as her Loki behaved exactly as he always did. With lust and desire for her in his eyes.

"Loki." she said and he looked at her, his overwhelming lust threatening to not respond.  
"I'm glad you're back. I love you." She said, running her finger tips over his lips.  
He smiled, reached up and grasped her hand with his free hand, before kissing her fingers softly.

"I love you too." He said, letting go of her hand and leaning forward to kiss her lips.

That day, Laevateinn's lava ran red again, and every day since.

As the time went on, Vara grew fonder of his new Midgardian form. He was young, but he was her Loki. And he was still a master of illusions, so whatever she wanted, she would have. Loki would stop at nothing to please her. He would often take her to his Manhattan apartment on Midgard. She loved being back there, though the thought of seeing her old Avenger friends, actually old, tortured her, and she made sure to stay in the apartment or close to it. Not that Loki minded, of course. They had 40 years of loving to make up.


End file.
